Two drinks, some food, and the most amazing dinner rolls I’d ever eaten, and I was having a wonderful evening. It was the most surprising thing to me.

Georgiana never stopped talking, it seemed. She always had something sweet and funny to say, and I was glad. It filled in the awkward silences whenever Mr. Darcy and I didn’t know what to say. She kept the conversation smooth and flowing.

He kept watching me, those blue eyes taking in my every movement. To be fair, I kept watching him from the corner of my eye. He looked so handsome sitting with us. His dark hair was combed back, and his suit displayed the strength of his shoulders and trim of his waist.

It helped that I knew exactly what was under that suit, but I knew I would never have that again. Still, every time he glanced over at me, my heart did flip-flops. I had slept with the man, so there was no reason to be nervous around him, yet there I was. I felt like a schoolgirl next to the captain of the football team.

I laughed too hard at his jokes. I smiled too much when he looked over at me. I tried to come up with something witty or clever to say at every chance, which meant that I sounded like an idiot most every time I opened my mouth. I was giving serious thought to calling Lydia just to get some flirting tips because I was sucking so badly at it.

“I’m going to go get some more of those chocolate strawberries,” Georgiana announced, standing up from her seat. She swayed slightly, her thin body struggling with the sudden movement. She wasn’t completely healthy yet, and I suspected that her adorable pixie cut was less choice and more about using what hair she had left.

“I’ll come with you,” I told her, rising up myself.

She shooed me back down. “No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I’ll be right back. You stay here.”

She flashed me a grin that told me she knew exactly what she was doing leaving the two of us alone.

Unfortunately, I had no idea what to do. And given the awkward silence, neither did Mr. Darcy.

“She’s adorable,” I finally blurted out. “Your sister, I mean. I mean...” I took a deep breath. How did he fluster me without even saying a word? I smiled at him and tried again. “I’m having a very nice evening. Thank you for letting me join you and your sister.”

He smiled, and my heart went into double time.

“Likewise,” he replied.

I needed something smart to say. Something that would make him smile at me like that again.

“So, how’s the buyout going?” I asked, trying to sound casual. “I saw something about it proceeding as planned in the news the other day.”

I suddenly found myself wishing I’d paid more attention to the news story. A patient had been watching it when I came in to check vitals, so I didn’t really have that option, but that didn’t change me from wishing I had.

“It’s going well,” he replied. He sounded so calm and smooth. “I’m very pleased with it. We have a meeting tomorrow to finalize everything. I wish everything in my life would work out as well as this did.”

The way he looked at me told me he meant me. I swallowed hard and looked down at my hands. This would be a great time to apologize. I knew that I should, yet somehow I couldn’t get the words out. My pride was too big.

“I’m glad it’s working out for you,” I instead told him. It was lame as hell. “I wish you all the success in the world.”

“Thank you.” A small ghost of a smile flickered across his face. It made me ache to see him smile again.

“Will you be staying in New York after the deal is complete?” I asked, holding my breath. I hoped he was.

“Just until the end of the year,” he replied. “Geo loves New York this time of year. Plus, I think she likes getting away from Catherine.”

“Your COO?” I asked, making sure I had the right one.

He nodded. “Yes. Our Aunt Catherine looks after Geo when I’m out on business,” Mr. Darcy said. “Catherine prefers to stay in London, so Geo takes any opportunity to come with me to New York she can.”

“I’m glad she came.” I smiled, meaning it. If she hadn’t come to the party, I would never have had this wonderful time with her and Mr. Darcy.

I racked my brain, trying to come up with something that we could have a real discussion on. I wanted to keep talking with him all night. I was about to ask him about his flying when Georgiana reappeared.

It was perfect and yet terrible timing.

“I managed to get the last three strawberries,” she announced. “Everything is shutting down. Apparently, the party is ending.”

“What?” I looked down in shock at my watch. “It’s supposed to go until eleven.”

“And it’s eleven fifteen,” Georgiana informed me. My watch backed her up. How in the world had so many hours gone by without me noticing?

“Oh dear.” I quickly pulled out my phone and saw several missed messages. Three were from my ride home. The first said it was time to leave, the second where she was, and then the third that she was leaving without me. There was even a message from Jane asking when I’d be home. I hadn’t even noticed them.

“What’s wrong?” Mr. Darcy asked, his face concerned.

“My ride home left. She has to work tomorrow, so she left earlier,” I explained. I put my phone away and shrugged. “It’s not important. I can get a cab really easily.”

“I’ll take you home.” He didn’t hesitate. He didn’t have to think about it. He just offered.

“You don’t have to, Mr. Darcy,” I told him, standing up from the table. I doubted he wanted to be stuck with me any longer than he had to be.

“No, I’d like to.” His voice was soft. I melted a little bit, even though I wanted to protest a little bit more. The idea of being alone with him was making my heart stutter. As much as I wanted more time with him, what in the world would I say without Georgiana to fill in the big silent parts?

“Good, it’s settled then,” Georgiana announced before I could tell him no. “My brother will take you home, and I get to see you again. Promise?”

There was no way I could say no to that. “Of course. I’d like that very much.”

“Good.” She grinned, but the frowned. “Now, why have you been calling him ‘Mr. Darcy’ all night? I thought you two knew each other.”

“Well, the night I met your brother, I did call him William,” I told her. “He corrected me and told me to call him Mr. Darcy.”

“William!” Georgiana’s accent became much sharper as she smacked her brother on the shoulder. She glared at him before returning to face me. “I apologize for him.”

Mr. Darcy’s cheeks darkened. “I did do that, didn’t I?”

I nodded. “Among other things.”

He got up and came to stand before me, his blue eyes focused on me. I was the center of his world, and it was a heady experience. “I am sorry.”

My knees went weak, and my heart threatened to go into a-fib. I reached for the table just to keep me upright.

“Me too,” I whispered, staring into his eyes. “For everything.”

It wasn’t as much of an apology as he deserved, but it was at least the start of one. A weight lifted off my shoulders, and I knew I should have apologized a long time ago.

He smiled, lighting up those blue eyes and making my knees tremble a little more.

“You’re more than forgiven,” he said softly.

“Well that’s good,” Georgiana said, reminding us that she was still there. She held up a strawberry. “Strawberry for the road?”

I shook my head. “No, thank you.”

She shrugged and popped one happily into her mouth. “Good. More for me then.”

I gave her a big hug. I couldn’t help but like the girl. She was still struggling with her illness, but there was no way she was letting it bring her down. She was a light in this world and reminded me a lot of my grandmother in the best possible way.

The three of us walked into the mostly deserted lobby. I couldn’t believe that I’d had such a nice time with the two Darcy siblings that I’d lost all track of time. I would never have thought it possible.

“You go on up to the room,” Mr. Darcy told Georgiana as she stifled a yawn. “I’ll take Elizabeth home.”

“Take your time,” she told him as she headed toward the elevator. She waved one last time as I went to retrieve my coat. It was easy to find because it was the last one left.

“You don’t really have to take me home,” I told Mr. Darcy as he helped me slide on my coat. “It’s not far. And a cab is really easy.”

“I want to,” he replied. “Stop arguing.”

I nodded in acquiescence. “As you wish.”

He chuckled. The sound was rich and joyful, and it made me look up in surprise. “What’s so funny?”

“Submission looks very strange on you,” he told me. “You never give in.”

“That’s a nice way of saying I’m stubborn,” I said. He just grinned at me and put his hand on the small of my back to guide me to the valet. His touch, even through my coat, made my stomach flutter and my nerves tingle. I was glad I was wearing a coat, or he would have been able to feel my heat.

The valet jumped to attention as we walked out. “Mr. Darcy, I’ll have your car up right away, sir.” He took a step and then stopped. “Which one would you like?”

“The red one, please,” Mr. Darcy replied.

The valet nodded and took off running. I’d never seen someone move that fast, but then again, I also wasn’t worth billions. Or even had a car.

“How many cars do you have here?” I asked, realizing that the valet made it sound like there were multiple.

“Three,” he replied with a nonchalant shrug.

“You have three cars in New York City?” I repeated, not quite believing him. “You don’t even officially live here.”

He shrugged. “I like cars,” he told me with a small smile. “Oh, I guess it’s four if you count the limo.”

“Oh, yes. You can’t forget the limo. How silly of you,” I said, smiling back at him.

“And a helicopter,” he added. “But that’s just to beat the traffic.”

“And who doesn’t need that,” I agreed with a giggle. I shook my head in amazement. I didn’t have a car. I didn’t even technically have a drivers license because I never needed one. The closest I’d ever been to a helicopter was receiving patients on the roof of the hospital, but I’d never actually even been in one.

His world of wealth was very different than mine.

A bright fire-engine red Ferrari pulled up to the valet station, and the valet hopped out. He handed Mr. Darcy the keys, and Mr. Darcy tipped him some money. It looked like a hundred dollar bill.

Mr. Darcy opened the passenger door for me to get in.

“Seriously?” I said, looking at the beautiful sports car. “This is your drive around New York car?”

He just grinned and held out his hand to help me in.

I took his outstretched hand, trying not to flush at the skin to skin connection as I settled into the leather seats. I looked around, trying to take it all in. It was the most beautiful car I’d ever seen. Everything was smooth lines and leather. It even smelled amazing.

I tried not to think about how much a car like this cost. It was probably worth a decade of my salary. I tried to sit with as little of me touching the car as possible so I wouldn’t mess anything up.

He closed the door and walked around to the driver’s side.

“Yup. Good choice me,” I said softly as I watched him pass the front of the car. “Don’t date the rich guy. Be awful to him. Call him names. That’s a good life choice.”

I could have had all of this. If I had said that I loved him back that night in the rain, or even just given him a chance, I could have had a helicopter.

But, I had to be all high and mighty. I had to call him names and act like a child. It was my own fault and I didn’t deserve his riches. Besides, I was never after his money. It was just that getting to see it was rather eye-opening.

Mr. Darcy sat down and turned on the car. It hummed quieter than I expected. Then he grinned at me and revved the engine. That was the amazing super fast, powerful engine sound I was expecting.

“Now you’re just showing off,” I teased him.

“What’s the point in having a car like this if you don’t show it off a little?” He asked, putting the car into gear and pulling out. The tires squealed as the engine accelerated. I laughed as I was thrown back into the soft leather and my insides were pushed down.

The car was damn fast.

And then, we hit traffic, because we were in New York.

I laughed as he came to a stop at the first traffic light. It didn’t matter that we were in the fanciest, fastest car. We still had to follow the flow of traffic.

“Thank you again for taking me home,” I said as we waited for the light to change.

He looked over at me and smiled, making my heart flutter. “Of course.”

“Do you want to tell me more about your buyout?” I asked. It was going to be an awkward drive home if we didn’t have something to fill the silence.

He looked over, evaluating me. “Do you really want to know?”

“I do.” I was actually surprised by the fact that I really did.

“My airline is purchasing South Pacific Airway,” he began. “They serve primarily the South Pacific in a way we haven’t been able to do yet. By combining with them, we’ll be able to control twenty percent of all Asian airline traffic.”

“Wow, that sounds like a lot,” I said. He nodded as he pulled through the light. We were immediately stopped again by traffic.

“It’s been a difficult acquisition,” he explained. “We are working through the legal issues and making sure that our corporate cultures are compatible. We want to make sure that our companies combine seamlessly on the employee level.”

I nodded. “When I was first hired as a new grad, the hospital was merging with another corporation. Everyone was trying to figure out how the new billing systems and pay codes all worked. It was a nightmare. There was a lot of ‘but it used to be this way’ being thrown around.”

“Exactly.” He nodded. “We’re trying to minimize that from the top down, which has made the negotiations tedious.”

“I would imagine it would make things smoother in the long run, though.”

“It should,” he agreed. “I intend to learn from my mistakes.”

“Mistakes? You made a mistake?” I asked.

“It does happen from time to time,” he informed me, smiling as he said it.

I grinned back. “So, what are you changing this time? For your company?”

He hesitated. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”

“Yes,” I assured him. “It’s actually pretty interesting. I’d love to learn more.”

He glanced over at me, his eyes soft like he’d found a treasure. He grinned.

We spent the rest of the ride home discussing various methods of gaining compliance. He listened and nodded when I put forth my experience and he actually liked some of my ideas. For the first time in my life, I actually really enjoyed the traffic and was sad when we arrived at my apartment.

I found myself wanting the night to keep going.

“Thank you again,” I told him as he pulled into the parking area for my building. “I had a really nice evening.”

“Me too,” he replied. He flashed me that soft smile that made my knees buckle.

I hesitated in getting out of the car. I wasn’t ready for our conversation to end, especially since I wasn’t sure when I’d get to see him again. After this, there was literally no chance of us meeting unless he ended up as a patient, and I didn’t want that.

“Would you like to come up for a drink?” I asked. “Jane bought this bottle of wine that she thought I would like, and I can’t drink it on my own.”

Even in my head, the words sounded lame. It was the best I could do on short notice. I wasn’t used to coming up with excuses to bring men home.

He took a small breath and thought for a moment.

He’s going to say no, I thought to myself. He should say no. I’ve been a total bitch. This was a dumb idea...

“I’d love to,” he replied. I nearly laughed with joy. Excitement and relief filled me, quickly replaced with nerves. I couldn’t remember if I’d made my bed this morning and what the state of my bathroom looked like. I hoped Jane was still at her drawing class.

But mostly, I hoped that we actually still had that random bottle of wine.